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SPEECH 



HON. WM. KELLOGG, 



V: 



OF ILLINOIS, 



FAVOR OF THE UNION. 



DELIVERED IN THE SOUSE OP KEPRESENTATIYES, FEBRUARY S, 1S61. 



The House ImvinEj under consideration the report from the Select Committee of 
thirty-three, Mr. KELLOGG, of Illinois, said: 

Mr. Speaker: I have listened, sometimes with great pleasure, 
sometimes with great pain, to the arguments and speeches whicli 
have been made during the last few days in regard to the dis- 
turbed condition of the country; but thus far with little hope. 
I have heard well-prepared speeches delivered, gilded with well- 
toned periods, glittering tropes, and adorned with flowers of rhet- 
oric and oratory; but I have as yet heard but little said which 
gives me hope for a bright future for this great country of ours. 
I have heard gentlemen of talent discuss this subject upon party 
grounds, as if standing upon a political battle-tield, and from 
that stand-point consider the question of the da}^ with an acri- 
mony of spirit that evidences rather the politician than the states- 
man. While their country lies bleeding, dismembered, and strug- 
gling in the agonies of dissolution, they talk as though the sn- 
25remacy of a political party were superior to all considerations 
of their countrj^'s good. 

For one, sir, I here say in my place, whatever may betide it, 
or betide me, I would rather ten thousand political parties and. 
their platforms were overwhelmed, never to rise again, than that 
this great Government of ours should be imperiled. (Applause 
in the galleries.) 

The Speaker pro tempore, (Mr. Etheridge in the chair.) The 
galleries will preserve order. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. I know that applause should not 
be uttered for sentiments declared here, and yet it comes bub- 
bling up from the hearts of the people. It comes as if borne 
from the prairies of my own noble State, saying that the Govern- 
ment must and shall be preserved, though political parties sink 
forever into oblivion. Let it come ; it is the voice of the people, 

Printed by Lemuel Towers, at |1 00 per hundred copies. 



* Sf \ 

'*',j^r . and before it traitors will tremble and treason grow pale. (Ee- 
^^ newed applause in the galleries.) 

Mr. WmsLow. The attention of the Speaker was drawn yes- 
^s, > terdaj to the fact of applause in the galleries. Certainly, no 
gentleman who desires the proceedings of this House to be con- 
ducted with order, would, after the remark of the Speaker yester- 
day, renew such demonstrations. The Speaker declared yester- 
day that if these demonstrations were repeated, he wonld cause 
the galleries to be cleared. 

The Speaker pr^o tempore. No doubt those who now occupy 
the galleries are not those who occupied them yesterday. The 
remarks of the gentleman from North Carolina M'ill probably 
2>revent the recurrence of such demonstrations ; and the Chair 
appeals to the galleries to refrain therefrom. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the condition of my 
voice is such that it is with difficulty that I shall be able to say 
v^'hat I desire, in the time allowed me by the rules. I said, sir, 
that this voice came up as from the prairies of my own State. I 
know, sir, full well, that the position I have assumed and occupy 
upon this question, will bring down upon my humble head the 
animadversion and the censure of many ; but yet I think I 
know the people of this country ; I think I know the people of 
my own State ; and I venture to predict to-day, that, whatever 
politicians may say, wdiatever political editors may vt^rite, the 
heart of the people beats for the Republic, beats for their Con- 
stitution and their laws. And, sir, I here say, in the presence of 
my colleagues, that when this question shall go before our con- 
stituents, the people will respond that they will adjust this mat- 
ter upon fair and honorable terms, and if necessary, even at the 
sacrihce of parties by a majority of fifty thousand votes. But 
suppose we fail — what matters it ? Suppose we go down — what 
matters it? The people have in their keeping the interests of 
this great Government; it is garnered in loyal hearts, and they 
will protect and perpetuate it. Politicians will raise their puny 
arms in vain ; but the people will sustain the Union by any just, 
honorable, and conciliatory measure that promises to bring har- 
mony and peace to the nation. 

When we assembled at the opening of the present Conajress, 
the mutterings of discontent and the rumbling of the distant 
storm were heard, and from the far off South there came up a 
wail of disunion and secession. And yet we took our seats quiet- 
ly here, and commenced legislation. But louder and still 
louder came the cry, and darker grew the clouds around and 
above us of revolution and rebellion against the Government 
of the country and the Constitution and laws ; and now, gentle- 
men talk here of secession as a right, and ai-gue it as a principle. 
We here to-day argue in reference to tlie riglit of secession. Men 
at the heart of this great country are discussing the right of se- 
cession, when that question is past argument. Revolution is a 
fact, and the historian has recorded it. Six, and perhaps seven. 






of tlie onter circle of the stars of tliis Confederacy have set ; and 
unless they shall be relumed, and return as loyal States, they 
have set forever in the darkness which disloyalty to freedom and 
constitutional law brings upon him who adopts it. 

How stands the matter to-day ? Sir, we are sitting here inthe 
American Congress, for the first time in the history of the nation, 
with cannon bearing upon the Capitol to protect us, and with 
military squadrons marshaled in the streets of the city to protect 
the Capitol ; we sit here coolly and deliberately and talk upon 
the " right of secession," and plan and figure for party ascenden- 
cy. God save the mark ! What, sir, is our duty ? Our duty is, 
irrespective of party considerations, to learn the real cause of the 
condition of the country, and to apply such remedies as the mag- 
nitude of the difficulty and the character of the nation require. 
Can we save the country ? I believe, before God, w^e can, if w^e 
are true men, and do our duty. Sir, the veriest abstraction in 
the world — a question of political opinion misrepresented upon 
either side — is about to rend in pieces this fair Government of 
ours, and the bitterness of the strife of the last campaign is 
brought in to accelerate its disruption. Sir, when the historian 
shall write, if ever he may, the causes of the destruction of the 
American Government, what will he say? ISTone does exist; 
none can be written. God grant he may never be called upon 
to do it! And if you, gentlemen of the South and gentlemen of 
the North, will come up to this question as men and patriots, and 
disabuse your minds of considerations of political power, the sun 
shall. not rise and set five times before peace shall be restored; 
this great nation of ours shall be harmonious; and our glorious 
old flag shall wave as brightly and proudly over this Capitol as 
it ever has done, not a single stripe erased, not a single star ob- 
scured. 

What, sir, is the real cause of our present condition ? The real 
cause is not occasional difficulties in securing the return of fugi- 
tive slaves ; and I want, to-day, to make to my southern friends a 
fair proposition in reference to "that one of their alleged grievances. 
The South, with the institution of slavery, under the Constitution, 
is entitled to protection in the way of the return of fugitives from 
labor. That is my judgment ; and it is the judgment of the Ke- 
publican party ; and it has been told you in thunder tones at the 
ballot-box, in the election of the President elect, that you are en- 
titled to a faithful execution of the fugitive slave law. Have you 
not a sufficient guarantee of the objects and purposes of the party 
now coming into power, when that was declared before the elec- 
tion by the gentleman who has been elected President by a most 
triumphant majority in the great ISTorth, where you claim that 
this difficulty exists ? It is due that I should say tliat Mr. Lincoln, 
before his election, declared, in his debates of 1858 with Judge 
Douglas, that the South were entitled to an efficient fugitive 
slave law; and did you ever ask more than that? In the State 
of Illinois, the present fugitive slave law has been faithfully exe- 



cuted. I ask my colleague, (Mr. McCleenand,) with whom I 
have kiudlj relations, but have had severe conflicts politically, I 
ask him, and I ask you of the border States, has not Illinois exe- 
cuted faithfully, honorably, and justly, tlie law of 1850 in rela- 
tion to the return of fugitives from labor? 

Mr. McClernand. My testimony is not necessary to corrobo- 
rate that of my distinguished colleague on that point. His state- 
ment is notoriously true. Illinois has always been mindful of 
constitutional obligations. More than that ; police laws are now 
in force in that State, and have been for many years, operating 
efficiently in aid of the fugitive slave law ; and\ beyond question, 
the courts and juries in that State have faithfully and eflectually 
executed that law. 

Mr. Kellogg. Mr. Speaker, there have been occasional viola- 
tions of that law in Illinois. There vvill be occasional violations 
of all laws, everywhere in our country, in the South as well as in 
the North ; but wdien those who violated the law came before our 
courts, their positions, high or low, did not shield them from the 
penalties of the law. Within the last twelve months, men who 
have violated that law have expiated the offence within the bars 
of a prison. I say of that law that it is harsh, and that it has ob- 
jectionable and crnel features ; but, sir, it is the law of the land 
and when I went up to that desk and laid my hand upon the 
Gospel, and swore to sustain the Constitution, I ielt myself bound, 
as I ever do as a citizen of the United States, to a faithful execu- 
tion of that and'every other law upon the statute-book, guarantied 
by the Constitution. 

Mr. Speaker, I heard the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Ste- 
venson) say the other day, that Kentucky had lost $200,000 an- 
nually in slave property. I so understood him, I do not see him 
now in his seat. I thought he put the proposition in an unfair 
light. That Kentucky has lost that amount of property in slaves, 
that have escaped — as they ever will escape as long as the insti- 
tution exists — I do not doubt; but will he tell me that that 
amount of property has been lost to the people of Kentucky in 
consequence of any arrangements in the northern States to induce 
slaves to leave their masters? I do not believe he will ; nor will 
any man who is acquainted with the northern people. Property 
in the services of negroes is at best uncertain in its tenure and 
enjoyment. Being living, breathing, immortal beings, and hav- 
ing the natural aspiration for freedom, they will, so "long as the 
institution exists, escape from their masters; but that is your 
misfortune, and not our iault. How stands the matter in Penn- 
sylvania? Pennsylvania, it is said, has faithfully returned all 
fugitive slaves. How is it with Ohio? Ohio, too, has returned 
them, although difficulties have arisen there as to the construction 
of the law; and I believe the law of 1850, providing for the re- 
turn of fugitives from labor, will be fairly executed in all the free 
States. I say, however, that you must not charge upon me the 
guardianship of your slave property, or any other kind of pro- 



perty. I will execute the laws faitlifully ; but if jou have slaves 
jon must provide your own protection for that species of property. 

I am told by responsible gentlemen upon this floor that there 
are to-day, in the State of Maryland, men under indictment for 
stealing more negroes tliati there have been slaves taken from the 
South "in the past year, by any combination of northern men. 
Why not denounce "the people of Maryland because of this viola- 
tion of tlie laws and rights of others? Simply because they are 
the acts of individuals ; but, sir, they are not more the acts of in- 
dividuals than are the acts of persons who obstruct the law of 
1850, or induce the escape of slaves. Surely, then, this is no 
cause for the disruption of this Government. If that were the 
cause of difficulty, we could adjust it in an hour. That certainly 
is not the cause of the secession of South Carolina, Mississippi, 
and Alabama, and the other Gulf States. They have never lost 
a slave, in my judgment, by the action of the northern people. 
This is but a pretext to complicate the difficulties of a settlement, 
and make it more uncertain of ratification by the people. 

But the rapid passage of my hour admonishes me that I must 
pass from that question to the question of the practical result of 
the right of southern men to emigrate to the Territories with 
their slaves. The States that have seceded from the Union have 
never sent their slaves to the Territories. They do not propose 
to send them there. They buy their slav^es from the border 
States ; and the practical result of the right to carry slaves into 
the Territories is a bagatelle, and has nothing whatever to do with 
this movement for secession and the disruption of the Government. 
But what is it, sir? 

The difficulty is a conflict of opinion between the people of the 
South and the people of the North in relation to the institution 
of slavery in its moral and political forces. That conflict of opin- 
ion has existed since the organization of this Government, and it 
will exist as long as our Government shall last. Fifty years ago, 
it was generally conceded that slaverj^ was wrong, and then there 
was no difficulty in adjustment and compromise. ISTow, the 
southern mind is educated to the belief that slavery is right, and 
the northern mind is educated in the fixed and determined opin- 
ion that it is a moral wrong, and a political evil. 

Lv,>gislation may induce peace, by taking the sting out of the 
conflict, by preventing collision and actual conflict; but it can 
never change the idea and belief that slavery is wrong in the 
North or right in the South. Never. You may legislate until 
the tide shall cease to rise and fall, and jct the public mind at 
the South will believe that the institution of slavery is I'ight. 
You may legisla':e till the sun shall grow tired in his course, and 
the northern mind will still say that slavery is a moral evil and a 
political wrong. Why waste your time in endeavoring to reform 
public opinion North, or to reform public opinion South? It is 
not the business or the duty of legislation. It is not a subject of 
legislation. It existed when the Government began. It will ex- 



6 

ist when jou and I, and the States which we represent, shall liave 
crumbled away nnder the gnawing tooth, of time. And yet, sir, 
are wc in the ditiicnity that notliing can be done to avert the 
evil ? Is this Government to be dissolved ? Is the fair fabric 
which our fathers builded to crumble to dust in its early man- 
hood, because differences of opinion exist now, which existed 
wlien the Government began ? I would say to my northern friend, 
who is willing to see this Government disrupted on that question, 
that, however much I might love him and admire his talents, I 
would take leave of him forever, and cling to the flag of my 
country, and let public opinion at the ISTorth and South prevail as 
it now is, rather than ruin should overwhelm us. This difference 
existed when the Government was framed. Slavery existed in 
Virginia, that proud old mother of States, whom I admire to-day 
for her position in tliis great conflict. She has thrown herself 
into the breach to turn back the tide of disunion and revolution, 
and says to the nation, " be united, and be brothers again." God 
bless the Old Dominion ! Kew York, too, was then a slave State, 
and tolerated the doctrine of slavery. Massachusetts — liberty- 
loving State — where stands old Bunker Hill, with her thousand 
glorious clustering memories, drank in early the doctrines of free- 
dom. 

She early embraced the idea that human oppression was wrong 
in ever}^ form. True, gallant old State ! On one of her hill-sides, 
I have seen an humble slab, with the inscription, " Here Warren 
fell." Who can look at it without a throb and a sensation of glo- 
rious recollection of our history? Will old Massachusetts now 
unbend a little, not to sacriflce her opinions and principles, but 
to save the Union ? Will Virginia do it? Will Kentucky do it? 
I say before Heaven that Illinois, her young sister, will ; and you, 
sir, (addressing Mr. McCleknand,) and I will march hand in hand 
to consummate the glorious triumph of the reunion of the States 
in the spirit in which they were first formed. 

Mr. McClernand here advanced, and giving his hand to Mr. 
Kellogg, said — 

"And what otiier oatb, 
Than honesty to honesty entjag'd, 
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?" 

(Great applause in the galleries.) 

Mr. Farnswokth, (in his seat.) I wish you joy of the vred- 
ding. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. My colleague says he wishes me joy 
of the wedding. Sir, when any member of any party will ask 
me to stand with him by the country, disregarding political dis- 
tinctions, I say we will be brothers, whatever may betide ; and, 
if I must part Vv'ith my friends, I will give them a blessing. Al- 
though they may wander for a time in the dark paths of fanati- 
cism, they will at last return to the homes of their fathers ; and 
we will take them back and make them first children in the house- 
hold. 



I said, sir, tliat when this Government Nvas formed there M'as 
this contiict of opinion. Do yon believe it could ever have been 
formed, if it had been required that Virginia and old Massachu- 
setts should agree that slavery was either right or wrong? No, 
sir. The very question which now disturbs us would have pre- 
vented the union of the States. If Virginia or North Carolina had 
said to Massachusetts, " You must believe as we do," I tell you the 
battle of Bunker lirll would never have been fought. But, sir, 
what did they do? They agreed to tolerate opinion in the dif- 
ferent localities, as we are compelled to tolerate opinions on po- 
litical and religious subjects among our neighbors, so as to live 
together in good brotherhood. What did they do in the Territo- 
ries ? Did they say tliat no slavery should exist in the Territories? 
Your fathers did in the nortliwestern Territory. Slavery was not 
there, practically ; or if at all, to the most trifling extent. When 
Vii-ginia gave to the country the great Northwest, out of which 
the State which I in part represent was carved, your fathers said 
"It is best that slavery shall not make its mark on that soil." 
Three years afterwards, in 1790, the same men took a cession of 
territory from North Carolina, in which slavery did exist, and 
they said " slavery shall not be abolished there." That was the 
doctrine of the fathers. They tolerated this diiference of opinion 
in the different Territories; but marked the line. So that the 
question might not create any conflict, they tolerated the opinion 
ot the right and of the wrong of slavery to exist; and yet they 
prevented the practical conflict of that opinion. And all we want 
to-day is to prevent that practical conflict. Let us do that, and 
the old ship of State, which now lies floundering in the trough of 
the sea, shall come into a harbor of smooth waters, with all its 
canvas set, not a spar broken, nor a sail torn. 

Then do it, my friends. If you but return to the policy of your 
fathers ; if you go back and do that now to save the Union that 
they did to make the Union originally, the question is settled in 
an hour. Woe be to him, when the shock comes, who did not 
do all in his power to settle this vexed question in American 
politics. 

In view of that idea, and the true policy of the Government, 
and the policy of the fathers in regard to slavery, I have presented 
to this llouse resolutions which I believe carry out every doctrine 
of the Republican party, and which, if adopted, will give peace 
to the country and a glorious termination to that conflict which 
was likely to involve the country in the calamities of disruption 
and civil war. I propose to amend the Constitution ; to do that 
which the fatliers did in 1820, when the same question was l)efore 
the American mind. There was then a practical conflict of opin- 
ion in regard to slavery in the Territories. There was slavery, in 
fact, in the southern part of the Louisiana purchase. There was 
no slaver}?-, in fact, in the northern portion of it. The people of 
the eastern States demanded a right to emigrate there, and that 
they should have freedom as an inheritance. 



8 

There was a conflict of opinion ; it was an unoccupied Territory^ 
but about to be settled ; and that conflict of opinion was fast be- 
coming a conflict in fact. Wliat did the fathers do when the best 
men in the Republic trembled for its pei-petuity? These men, 
who had drunk in the inspiration of the Revolution, said : " There 
shall be a line drawn between us, brothers as w^e are. North of 
that line slavery shall never be. South of it slavery does exist. 
So let us be at peace." What was the result? The result M^as 
what it would now be if we should return to that policy — peace 
and joy. The glad tidings swept over the land, and all was har- 
mony ; and hope and confidence was again restored. So, for 
thirty years there was a tolerance of opinion on the slavery ques- 
tion north and a tolerance of opinion south of that line ; and the 
people went on in that glorious career which this Government 
ought to have before the nations of the earth, in all time to come. 
Bnt in an evil hour, when the political n>ind of the nation was 
inflamed by partisan strife for power, that line was abolished ; 
that barrier for freedom was destroyed ; and the conflict which 
had been prevented by its establishment raged anew; and from 
then to the present hour, the country has blazed and burned, 
seethed and bubbled, with political excitement, until now ruin 
stares us in the face. Had that been in the Constitution, it would 
have given peace while the Government lasted. Let us judge of 
the future by the past. Let us put the same provision in the Con- 
stitution. That is my proposition — nothing more, nothing less. 

Mr. Speaker, I want to say a word to my Republican friends. 
Whether I am in or out of the j^arty is tome of very little moment. 
Last year the old Tribune, of New York, attacked me ; and I read 
it out of the party tolerably successfully in Illinois. The little 
Tribune, of Chicago, has attacked me during this session. I will 
give it sulferance a little while longer ; but if it does not then 
correct its manners and habits, I will read it out of the party also. 
(Laughter.) What was it that made the Republican party? It 
was the breaking down of the Missouri line. We said that that 
w'as a settlement between the North and the South ; and when it 
was destroyed, the indignation of the northern people defeated 
the party that destroyed it, and gave rise to the party which is 
now the dominant party in this country. This trouble has come 
upon us, and I ask you to put back the same principle in a shape 
so that it shall not be effaced from our laws. I ask you to adopt 
the principle which you said was right in 1856. 

Is there in the Republican ranks any Democrat who left his 
party in 1856? I believe there are many of them. Why did 
they leave it? Because of the repeal of the Missouri compromise 
line. How can you answer when this proposition to put back that 
line — which can alone give peace to the country — is made in this 
House? Will you say that you would rather that this Govern- 
ment should be destroyed, than to go back to the days of peace 
and prosperity under the Missouri compromise line policy ? To 
the agitator, i't is the knife of the surgeon. When peace shall be 



restored, when confideuce and fraternal relations shall return to 
him who has lived upon excitements, who feasts on commotion 
and strife, I say, 

"Othello's occupation's gone." 

What is my proposition ? I propose to put in the fundamental 
law of tlie land, that north of 36° 30' of north latitude slavery 
shall not exist, and that south of it neither Congress nor the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature shall prevent or prohibit the emigration of 
settlers from the southern States with persons held to service or 
labor. There is no equivocation about it. I say, in terms, what 
the Missouri compromise said inferentially. It is a day when 
men must speak fairly and plainly ; and, sir, I have no other way 
to speak, than in bold Saxon, frankly, what I mean. 

To my Republican friends I would address myself. ITow does 
this differ from the Republican platform? I am charged with 
abandoning the principle;* upon which I was elected. The Repub- 
lican party declares that slavery should not be extended. No 
power on earth, we said, shall compel us to vote for the extension 
of slavery over one foot of the Territories of the United States 
now free'. That was the war cry of the party. It was thundered 
from every stump ; it was told in every hall, and repeated in every 
convention. How stands the matter? Do I depart from the plat- 
form? To-day, every f)ot of American territory is, by the deci- 
sion of the courts, slave territory. Every foot of American ter- 
ritory is as much slave territory as was the Louisiana purchase in 
1820. Nay, more, sir; by an adjudication of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, a person may emigrate with his slaves to 
any of our territory, and neither Congress nor Territorial Legis- 
lature have the right to prevent it. And, however much you may 
regret or denounce that decision, the question has been decided ; 
and it is too late for us to quibble about it. I propose by this 
amendment of the Constitution to root out that decision in all of 
our territory north of 36° 30'. I propose, sir, to give back to free- 
dom what lias been given to slavery. I propose to give yon what 
the Dred Scott decision filched from you. Does this extend sla- 
Tery ? I ask yon, gentlemen of the North, how much do you gain 
by this? You gain everything that was gained by the restriction 
of 182L You said that that gave slave territory to freedom. This 
dedicates to freedom territory sutficient in which to establish em- 
pires, now subject to slavery by the adjudication of the courts. 
Nor is the South shorn of its rights. Southern men have expressed 
a desire to emigrate with their slaves to the Territories. I have 
never believed that you were very serious in that proposition. 
Pardon me the imputation. I have always thought, and still think, 
that you never seriously expected to emigrate to the Territories 
with your slaves. You have tried it for ten years. You have 
had New Mexico, lying south of 36° 30', and being the only Ter- 
ritory south of that line, and what have you done there in the 
last ten years ? What have you practically done under this boasted 
right of emigration to the Territories ? What have you done with 



10 

that right, which, unless you have secured, you propose to dis- 
solve this Union ? In teu years you have not got over ten negro 
slaves into New Mexico. If you keep it ten years longer you 
will not have as many as you have got now. We propose to you 
that we will give a guarantee that, while the territorial condition 
lasts, you shall not be prevented from emigrating with persons 
you hold as slaves, to any Territory south of the line indicated. 

Mr. WiNSLow. AVhat does my friend mean when he says "we." 
Does he mean that the Republican party will accede, to that pro- 
position ? 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. If it does not come out of my time, 
I will answer any proposition or question. 

Mr. Farnsworth. I move that mv colleague's time be extend- 
ed. (Cries of " Agreed !" " Agreed?') 

Mr. "Win SLOW. Does the gentleman mean by "we" that the 
Republican party and incoming Administration will agree to the 
proposition he oilers ? 

Ml-. Kellogg, of Illinois. I offer the proposition. I do not 
know whether there will be any " we" in the matter. (Laughter.) 
I offer it; and I urge the Republicans to adopt it. I believe that 
the people will make them adopt it, and make the South adopt it. 

Mr. WiNSLow. I am delighted to hear the gentleman speak 
so liberally. 

Mr. John Cocnp.ANE. The gentleman means by " we," we, the 
people. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. I mean by " we," those who will go 
with me in support of ray proposition. In less than six months 
there will be a vast majority of the people for it. I do not care 
for the politicians. They are joined to their idols, let them alone. 
(Laughter.) 

I said it was proposed that they should have this guarantee. 
Slavery exists there to-day by positive enactment. It exists there 
by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the 
Dred Scott case. It exists there today, in fact; and I believe 
the people will say that they will not interfere with it south of 
latitude 36° 30'. Is not this all you can i-easonably ask? Do 
you desire to go north of that line? Look at the practical result 
of your efforts to introduce slavery into Kansas and jS^ebraska. 
Yon have had, for six years since the Missouri compromise line 
was abrogated, the Army of the United States, Congress, the 
Executive, and the highest judicial tribunal known to our laM's, 
to aid you; and yet you have not got a dozen slaves into Kansas. 
What higher agency than you have had to sustain you, can you 
expect or desire? Nor do I believe, with all these influences at 
your command, you could ever permanently establish the insti- 
tution of slavery in either Kansas or Nebraska. Will yon, then, 
insist upon disrupting the Government, because you cannot, in 
fact,^establish an institution neither in harmony with the moral 
sense of the people to be affected, nor required by the physical 
demands of the country? 



11 

If von do, go on in yonr mad career, and we will meet you at 
Pliiilippi, first with tlie compromises proposed, and tlien witli the 
power of the Government. To northei'n men let me say, when 
yon charge me with proposing to extend slavery, I want you to 
go to your constituents and tell them, upon the stump and at the 
hustings, where this proposition will extend slavery over one inch 
of our public domain. Slavery is already in K"ew Mexico by law, 
and by the decisions of the courts. I have said, in the proposi- 
tion I'have ottered, that I will not prevent emigration there; but 
the proposition will not, it does not, and by its terms it cannot, 
carry slavery one inch further than where it now exists. It leaves 
it where it is. And you of the South cannot complain, for you 
cannot go with slavery north of that line ; and you of the JSTorth 
cannot complain, for it does not force slavery anywhere, but estab- 
lishes freedom over the great northwestern territory — the very 
doctrine which you proclaimed upon every stump in yonr districts. 
Yet you tell me I have adopted the Dred Scott decision and the 
Breckinridge platform of the extension of slavery everywhere, 

Mr. Faknsworth. I wish to ask my colleague whether lie will 
adhere to his proposition if he believes the effect will be to make 
all territory south of 36° 30' slave States ? 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. Into slave States? I say to my 
friend that when I offered my proposition, I offered it with a de- 
termination to adhere to all its legal and logical conseepiences. 

Mr. Farnsworth. Then you would. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. You have my answer. Did the 
gentleman, when he voted for the Crittenden-Montgomery meas- 
ure, vote for it as a cheat, or in good faith ? 

Mr. Farnsworth. When I voted for the Crittenden-Montgom- 
ery amendment, I voted for it knowing that the people of Kansas 
would make a free-State constitution. I was as well satisfied of 
it as I would be should I refer a matter to the arbitration of three 
persons, two of whom were committed to me, that they would 
find in my favor. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. And yet, as a Representative of one 
of the proudest northwestern States, my colleague says he took 
a constitution, already dripping with corruption and fraud, cov- 
ered with slavery of the deepest hue, and held it out to the people, 
and said: if you take it, you can come into the Union; and now 
he says he did not mean to do what he did do. He did not mean 
to make it a slave State ; but he told the people they might 
make it a slave State ; and, as they might decide, he would 
be content. I voted for it after great reflection, and with great 
doubt of the propriety of it; but I yielded, and I voted because I 
voted for a principle. I said then, as I have said often since, having 
taken the step, I will ^tand by the record ; and I will not oppose 
the introduction of a slave State if the people fairly will it. That 
is the doctrine of the Crittenden-Montgomery amendment. That 
is what my colleague voted for; what every man who voted lor 
it voted for; and il" they voted fairly and honestly then, they will 



12 

now Tote for my proposition, nnless there are other objections to 
it than those made by my colleague. 

Mr. Farnsworth. My colleague voted for the Crittenden 
amendment, and I believe for the same reason ; at least the se- 
quel sliowed that we were right in our suppositions in regard to it. 

[Here the hammer fell.] 

Mr. HiNDMAN. I hope the time of the gentleman from Illinois 
will be extended. 

Mr. Burnett. His time was extended some time ago by unan- 
imous consent. (Cri^s of "Go on !" "Go on !") 

Mr. Farnsworth. Furthermore, at the time we adopted the 
Crittenden-Montgomery amendment to the Lecompton bill, we 
were forced to the alternative either to admit Kansas under the 
Lecompton Constitution as a slave State, or refer the matter back 
to the people; and it was for that alternative I voted. We did 
vote to refer it to the peonle, believing, as we did, that the people 
would vote against it. The sequel proved that we were right. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. My friend says he voted under com- 
pulsion ; that he was forced to vote as he did. Before God, as 
humble as I am, there is no power on earth that can make me 
vote under compulsion, and as my judgment does not lead me. 

Mr. Farnsworth. My judgment led me to vote as I did. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. Your judgment led you to vote as 
you did. Now, had it turned out that the people had adopted 
that constitution, what would have been your answer ? That, had 
you not thought the result would have been diiferent, you would 
never have voted to submit the constitution to the people. My 
God, with the prospect of a disruption of our Government rest- 
ing upon the soul, the heart, and the conscience of every man, 
will you not, when you yielded so much then, yield a little now 
to save your country, when you could bend then to pass the Crit- 
tenden-Montgomery amendment, will you not now yield a little 
to save the Union ? 
• Mr. Farnsworth. Will my friend allow me 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. If my friend wants an opj^ortunity 
to discuss this matter, I have no objection. 

Mr. SiMMs. I object to these interruptions. I am willing, 
however, that the time should be extended, if it is not taken out 
of the time of my friend from North Carolina, (Mr. Smith,) who 
is to follow the gentleman from Illinois. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. I was on this point of my argument — 

Mr. Farnsworth. Does my colleague decline to yield? 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. I do not decline. 

Mr. Farnsworth. One objection cannot prevent it. I under- 
stand my colleague to appeal to me— — ■ 

Mr. SiMMS. I object. 

Mr. Farnsworth. I understand my colleague yields. His 
time has been extended, and he has a right to yield. 

Mr. McClernand. I hope it will not be for a repetition of the 
same matter. 



Mi\ Kellogg, of Illinois. I am a good deal exhausted, and I 
shall soon be through with my remarks. 

Mr. Farnswortu. My colleague asks me if I would not yield 
a little to save the Union. I understand that the people of the 
United States, in the last election, pronounced a verdict". There 
were four candidates before the people, and four platf)rms: the 
Breckinridge platform, which reoi-gani^ed the validity of theDred 
Scott decision as applicable to all the Territories of the United 
States, and as extending slavery tliere ; and Douglas and his plat- 
form of squatter sovereignty, proposing to give to the people of 
the Territories the right to form tlieir own domestic institutions, 
and to come into the Union as States, with or without slavery, as 
they should determine. My colleague's proposition is about this: 
that to all Territories north V 36^ 30' the Douglas platform shall 
apply ; and to the Territories south of that line, he applies the 
Breckinridge platform and the Dred Scott decision. . ■ 

I Avill not yield these principles. No, sir ; I will not yield the 
principle that slavery shall be extended over that Territory to 
save the Union. I believe that the principles of liberty are worth 
more than Government. Government is ordained to subserve and 
protect those principles of liberty ; and when it becomes subver- 
sive of those ends, it is the right and duty of the people to set 
aside that Government and revolutionize it. I do not believe that 
the Bepublican party is a myth, or its principles a humbug. I 
am not willing to tell this Ilouse and the country that the Eepub- 
lican party, in the last campaign, were fighting for a humbug, and 
on false pretenses; maintaining that their principles were worth 
contending for, and then suddenly turning round and saying to 
the country that we have no principles. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. My colleague certainly does not 
comprehend my position, or he would not so sadly mistake it; 
but I believe he ditfers with me just where I thought he would. 
When this Government is in danger: when ruin sits enthroned 
above us, darting its shafts at our very hearts, ray friend plants 
himself upon an objection to my proposition — that it was em- 
braced in the Douglas platform, in the Breckinridge platform, or in 
the platform of some party. That is the only force his objection 
has. Men that base themselves upon the hopes of a party are not 
with me. I am for the country above all parties, (applause in 
the galleries,) and I do not care whether my proposition is found 
in the Douglas platform, in the Breckinridge platform, or in any 
platform on earth, if it will save my country. (Renewed applause 
in the galleries.) 

The Speaker pro tempore^ (Mr. Curtis in the chair.) Order 
must be preserved in the galleries. 

Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I hate to difler with 
my friend from Chicago, our relations have been so kind and 
friendly ; but when he says that he would not depart from his 
platform to save the Union, let me advise him to emigrate to 
South Carolina, where they declare that i-ather than yield their 



14 

political opinions, they will destroy this Union, But how stands 
this matter in regard to this question of slave States? By the 
compromise of 1850, the Government was pledged to admit States 
with such institutions as their people might adopt in all the Ter- 
ritories south of latitude 36° 30', That was the pledge of the 
great men of 1850 ; and it and its kindred measure, the Missouri 
compromise, gave peace to the Union, Would to God that we 
could have been spared the repeal of the Missouri compromise, 
with all its attendant evils and calamitous results. Is my friend 
from Chicago quite sure that he voted right in the last Presiden- 
tial election, when he voted for Lincoln!' Mr. Lincoln declared 
that if the Territories were kept free during their territorial con- 
dition, he could not object to the introduction of States, either 
Wth or without slavery, as the people thereof should determine. 

And, sir, I propose to put this territory north of 36"^ 30' in the 
exact condition indicated by Mr. Lincoln — that when States were 
formed from that territory he would not oppose their introduc- 
tion into the Union, either as free or slave. 

Xow, sir, if my friend from the Chicago district wants to get 
on the stool of repentance, and to retract and repudiate that vote 
for Mr. Lincoln, let him do it; but let him not charge me with 
departing from the faith of the party. 

Mr. Speaker, having made this exjdanation of the proposition 
that I have offered, let me reply to what my colleague has stated. 
Let me tell him my proposition is not to be found in any of the 
platforms to which he referred. The leading feature of it is to 
establish freedom where it does not exist to-day. Slavery exists 
to-day south of that line. Do you wish to establish freedom in 
all the territory north of it, and to make it as fixed and certain 
as the eternal hills? Or do you want this interminable slavery 
question forever to rankle in the hearts and consciences of the 
people? If you do, I say to you, in God's name, do not vote for 
m^^ proposition. Let him who is willing to tolerate a difference 
of opinion on this question in different parts of this great coun- 
try, adopt it and establish freedom north of this line. It is the 
very doctrine, sir, for which you and I fought in the last cam- 
paign — make it certain forever. 

We in Illinois never pledged ourselves to abolish slavery in 
one inch of the territory of the United States. The Republican 
party never advocated the abolishment of slavery. But we 
pledi^ed ourselves to prevent its extension. By the law of the 
Dred Scott decision, it is extended all over the country. ISToav, 
under this proposition, all the territory north of 36^ 30' is made 
free, and slavery left just where it is, south of that line. Does 
my colleague object to that proposition ? 

Mr. Faenswobth. I will answer my colleague. 

Mr. SiMMS. I object to any such interruption. 

Mr. HiNDMAN. This is an inquisition into the meaning of the 
Chicago platform, as I understand it, by experts; and I hope the 
gentleman will be allowed to go on with it. 



15 

]\Ir. Kellogg, of Illinois. As objection is made to interrup- 
tion, I must, of course, decline to yield. These questions of po- 
litical significance " pass by me as the idle wind, which I regard 
not." Tcare but little for them. 

I was asking, sir, whether the people of the Xorth are willing 
to take all and more than they expected to get l)y the great tri- 
umph which they achieved in November last ? Slavery exists by 
law now in New Mexico and Arizona ; and, sir, tiiis line cuts olf 
nearly a hundred miles of the northern portion of that territory, 
and excludes slavery therefrom. Gentlemen, all that you said to 
the people on the stump was, that you desired to prevent the ex- 
tension of slavery. You did not say that you desired to abolish 
it. Oh, gentlemen ! you can settle this question, and save the 
country, and save the^ immutable principles of freedom and lib- 
erty, or you can fritter it all away by the mad fanaticism of poli- 
tical aspiration. 'Which will you do ? Republicans, will you un- 
bend a little. And will you of the South, too, stop this secession 
movement, and come up here as true men, laying your prejudi- 
ces upon the altar of our country, and with your eye fixed upon 
.that God in whose hand are the destinies of the nation, swear that 
the country shall be preserved in all its integrity and all its glory? 

You will. The day is dawning. The clouds are dispersing. 
Hope springs within me as I contemplate the insignificance of the 
questions that divide us, and the mighty objects to be attained in 
the salvation of the country and the hope of liberty in the world. 

Mr. Speaker, if any ask me, " what if all this fail?" If you 
ask me, •' will the South take it ? " I cannot answer. True, men 
say they will ; but, if not, I have done my duty. I have discharged 
my trust. When that fails, I will go'furtlier. I will go fo the 
people of my own loved State for vindication. If you cannot 
settle this matter here, we will refer it to the people, the source 
of power, the glory of the world. They will settle these ques- 
tions themselves. But if they cannot settle them, then I am for 
the maintenance of the Government, for I believe in its vitality 
and power for self-preservation. If every peaceable measure fails, 
I will do as did our fathers when they disrupted the ties between 
the colonies and the mother country. Wronged and oppressed, 
they proposed, they expostulated, they argued, they entreated ; 
and, when all hope was lost, they appealed to the God of battles 
for the justice of their cause. When that time shall come ; when 
I have exhausted all argument, all expostulation, all hope of a 
peaceful solution, then I have but one more duty to perform ; then 
I will appeal to the God of battles, raising the banner that floats 
over our heads, and saying to my countrymen, "rally around your 
flag, sustain your country," and if we nmst go down, we will go 
down with the flag of our country in our hands, and our Heavenly 
Father will bless the eftort and raise it again, till the glory ol our 
Republic shall be as eternal as the heavens. (Applause on the 
floor and in the galleries.) 






A. r* I> E N D I X 



The following is Mr. Kellogg's proposition : 

JOINT RESOLUTION" proposed to be offered by Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois, when 
in order, as a substitute for the vai'ious propositions submitted by the committee 
of thirt^-'tliree : 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stntes of Amer- 
ica in Conyress assembfed, two-tliirda of holh Houses coiicurrinci, That the following 
articles be, and are hereby, proposed and submitted as aruendiuents to the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents aud purposes as part of 
said Constitution, when ratified b}' conventions of tliree-fourths of the several States. 

Article 13. That in all the territorj- now held by the United States, situate north 
of latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, involuntary servitude, except in 
the punishment for crime, is prohibited, while such territoi-y shall remain under a 
territorial government. Thai, in all the territory now heldsouth of said line, neither 
Congress nor any territorial legislature shall hinder or prevent the emmigration to 
Baid territory of persons held to serxice from any State of this Uiuon when that 
relation exists by virtue of any law or usage of such State, wliile it shall remain in 
a territorial condition ; and when anj* ten icory north or south of said line, within 
Buch boundaries as Congress maj- prescribe, shall contain the population requisite 
for a ruember of Congress, according to the then federal ratio of representation of 
the people of the United States, it may, if its form of government be republican, be 
adnjitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, with or with- 
out the relation of persons held to service and labor, as the constitution of such new 
State may provide. 

Article 14. That nothing in the Constitution of the United States, or any amend- 
ment thereto, shall be so construed as to authorize any department of the govern- 
ment to, in any manner, interfere with the relation of persons held to service in any 
State where that relation exists, nor in any manner to establish or sustain that rela- 
tion in any State where it is prohibited by tiie laws or constitution of such State. 
And that this article shall not be altered or amended without the consent of every 
State in the Union. 

Article 15. The third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the 
Constitution shall be taken and construed to authorize and empower Congress to 
pass laws necessary to secure the return of persons held to service or labor under 
the laws of any State, who may have escaped therefrom, to the party to whom such 
service or labor may be due. 

. Article 16. The migration or importation of persons held to service or involun- 
tary servitude into anj- State, Territory, or phice within the United States, from 
any place or country beyond the limits of the United States or Territories thereof, 
is forever prohibited. 

Article 17. No territory beyond Ihe present limits of the United States, and the 
Territories thereof, shall be annexed to or acquired by the United States unless by 
treaty; which treaty shall be ratified by a vote of two-thirds of the Senate. 



